Trade Kes at or before the draft. Get at least one young, ready or almost ready player in return - think Emerson Etem, Tomas Tatar, Brayden Schenn, Alex Killorn, etc. I would insist the package includes at least 1 more 1st rounder as well.

I would then look to trade the Van pick (6 to 8 overall is likely) plus the other first to move up into the top 3 or 4. Targets would be Bennett or Reinhart. Do everything you can to get one, even adding in our 2nd as well if you have to. The 6th, 15th-25th and 36th is likely enough to move up the 3 or 4 sports necessary. Could also use a guy like Hansen if the other team insists. If it's not doable then keep our pick and use both it and the other first, but do everything you can to do it. The team needs a young potential #1 centre in the worst way, already have potential 2 and 3 in Horvat and Gaunce.

Would keep Edler barring a great deal given a young D corps of Edler, Stanton, Tanev, Corrado and Hutton should be decent for years to come even when Bieksa, Hamhuis, Garrison are no longer here. Can always supplement it with a signing or trade if necessary.

Would trade one of the right wingers on the team, either Hansen or Burr, depending on who gets the better return. With Jensen, Kassian and those two there's one too many top 9 right wingers on the team. Burr can play left just fine as well so would likely trade Hansen for a younger prospect.

Buying out Booth is a given. Doesn't even necessarily need to be a compliance buyout given I doubt the team will need all their cap room next year.

Sign a couple of free agents, one being Santorelli given he can play two positions well and can play in the top 6 or top 9. The other being a solid winger, can be left or right depending on which one of Burr or Hansen is kept.

You'd still have Gaunce, Shinkaruk, Archibald, etc in Utica to bring up if necessary. Perhaps Jensen as well if you're able to sign more than one free agent. You'd also have Reinhart/Bennett/2014 draft pick in the wings, if they make the team out of camp that's great, just means more depth.

The free agents I would target are Milan Michalek, Cammalleri, Moulson, Stastny, Iginla. Don't want any 6 or 7 year contract guys, 2 or 3 years is perfect to allow the young guys to develop. If you sign a winger then Santo plays centre, if you sign a centre he plays wing.

The last thing I would do is get rid of Torts. Love the guy's candour and he seems like a great person, but his system on this team could not be worse. No reason to change the whole team to suit him, would rather get a coach who coaches and up tempo puck possession system as opposed to dump and chase hockey. The way this team is playing could not be more incorrect for the personnel that is here.

Well I see you put a lot if thought into that doctster. The truth is...this core failed. They failed with the twins at the peak of their game and thinking they can or will return to that level is about as likely as you and spidey having a goatee grow-off.Time to move on dude or do u need me to link you to a flames fan board?

Get back young players who were drafted high and played some NHL or NHL ready.

Fire Gillis first before anything happens.

Hire a coach who does not preach shot blocking, of course you do it but for freaks sake you need to score more than 2 goals a game so you need offense.

What is with people and 'fire Gillis!' Over and over I hear it. In the years he has been here he's taken a middle of the road team to the best regular season team in the league twice in a row, playoffs every year, to within one win of the cup, has taken them to second in the league in revenues and people seem to think he's getting fired? Yep he seems like an arrogant SOB and not somebody I particularly like but the results have been there. By the results he's easily been the best GM in team history and it's not close.

Yep this year has been a tire fire and he's got a ton if work to do this offseason but you don't fire a guy with his results after one bad season.

Sometimes I wonder how long people have been Nucks fans, do they remember the Burke years? The Keenan years? How about the whole 70's and 80's? I guess there are a ton of younger fans around now who have no idea what a losing team is like, so I shouldn't be too surprised.

Uncle dans leg wrote:I've watched enough sucking from our core while they were a contender with their stars firing to know that this group won't amount to anything more than we've already seen.

Sure the OP was extreme but haven't you seen enough yet? The team needs more than a tinkering. It needs to be reborn.

The funny thing is I think you're going to watch them suck regardless of whether kesler, burrows or Edler are in the line up or not.

It's half of one year of suckage. You don't blow up a whole team because of it. A guy like Kesler wants out you trade him, along with anyone else who doesn't want to be here. No reason to blow it up, there are 4 or 5 young kids that will be joining the team in the next couple of years and that's enough new blood to achieve what we are looking for.

If you consider the playoff failings of this group you will see the suckage has always been there. Blown series leads, inexplicable meltdowns, playoff disappointments.

Oh yes...the suckage has always been there. 2011 was the chance. It's over

Edit: the 2011 did show a show heaps of character in going to game 7 of the finals. I won't ttake that away from them but the Chelsea dagger chi-town meltdowns, the past 2 first round beatdowns, the finals...there's slot of failings in there.